


The Falling of Our Sky

by orphan_account



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Future, Apocalypse, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Nuclear War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-03
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-07-19 22:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7380790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers knows nothing of the End, a global apocalypse event that rained devastation across the planet and caused a huge loss of life, and the loss of teammates. However, this makes him special. The Angel, a being with the abiltity to bring fertility onto the Earth, or rein even more cataclysmic activity, seems to be allied with the refugees, and it has Cap's memories. It is the duty of Natasha Romanov and Bucky Barnes to help Steve regain his memory, and restore the Earth to life from the ashes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Falling of Our Sky

I awoke on a small, creaking cot, with dust surrounding me. I wore a surgical mask, and left shoulder stung, like it had been cut. I could feel movement. Were we in a helicopter? I felt stiff, like I had been lying still for some time. I noticed three people at my side. Two I recognised almost immediately, but one was unknown.

The first person was my fellow soldier, James Buchanan Barnes, or Bucky. He sat on my right, his metal hand resting on mine. A thick scarf was wrapped tightly around his mouth and neck. It draped over his shoulders, covering most of his chest and arms. His crystalline blue-green eyes were hooded and dark. He was obviously tired.

The second person was Natasha Romanov. Her bright red hair looked like it had been cut, no, burned short. It had changed so much, as it now curled down from her scalp in a frizz, the fire of hair ending where her head met her neck. Most of her face was covered by a half-masked respirator. Her large, green eyes were stealing glances at Bucky, as she sat directly across from him, bags hung under her eyes. She wore a thick, black turtleneck sweater that covered most of her skin.

The third person was a woman I had never seen before. She wore a black headscarf. Her bright, hazel eyes were the only thing I could see under her scarf, which was tightly wrapped around her head and neck, covering most of her chest and the making of it form almost invisible. She sat on my left, in the far corner. She fiddled with some sort of mechanism, oil from it making her dark-skinned hands even darker. Her grey sweatpants we stained with blood and ash. I could only wonder what from.

"He's awake," Natasha said, turning to face the woman. He stood up, placing the machine on the chair she was sitting on.

"Excellent. Steven, tell me, how are you fairing?" She asked. I tried to prop myself up on my elbows, but Bucky gently touched my shoulder with his fingers, indicating I shouldn't move.

"What's going on?" I ask. "I don't remember anything."

"Steve, we just need to know, how do you feel?" Natasha said, her eyes and voice stern.

"I feel fine. What's happening?" I ask again, more urgently.

"Steve, what do you mean, 'I don't remember?' What don't you remember?" Natasha asked. I shook my head.

"I don't..." I said, moving against Bucky's firm, but soft, touch. He looked at me with sad eyes.

"Steve, what was the last thing you remember?" My friend asked.

"Bombs...fire...chemicals. The missile struck us. I remember running. Wanda was missing. That's it."

"So he remembers the End. That was a week ago," Natasha exclaimed. A week ago? Buck and Nat had changed so much.

"By Allah's will," the unknown woman gasped, "it must be the Angel! James, does he have the mark?"

"Yes, Ahlem. Look at his shoulder," Bucky said, pointing at my bare shoulder. By the looks of it, someone had burned a tattoo of two wings into my shoulder.

"Seriously, guys. Is this a prank? Did Clint set this up? You guys can stop now," I said forcefully.

"Steve, this is no prank. One month ago, HYDRA successfully snuck into several governments. SHIELD thought they had eliminated every agent, destroying the threat. However, we did not expect to be so many sleeper agents. They hacked into huge government systems, especially ones with access to nuclear weapons, and deployed everything. North Korea, Russia, even the United States was victim to their attacks. Even HYDRA did not expect our world to be expelled into such an apocalypse. We call that event the End. HYDRA now controls the remaining government system, but we don't have the coordinates of this government. For now, until we free the citizens of HYDRA's utopia, we're on our own," Natasha explained. Bucky's eyes traveled to the floor, and he breathed a melancholy sigh, and Ahlem nodded slightly.

"We're heading into one of the old SHIELD bunkers that survived the End. It houses refugees now. Specially, superhuman refugees," Ahlem said, picking up her contraption and slipping out of my vision.

With a heave, I swing over to the right side of the cot. Bucky caught my eye for about half a second, his orbs of blue shined out, contrasting with his dark eye sockets. Natasha stood up quietly, and from what I could see, she stood at a sliding door, peering out of its plastic window. No one spoke for a very long time.

Soon, the helicopter shook violently, and I felt our decent. Buck looked terrified as the first tremors racked. I presumed it was from some kind of PTSD he had contracted in the past week.

As the helicopter touched the ground softly, Natasha opened the door and hopped out of the chopper. Bucky stood up, still unstable, and offered a hand for me, which I graciously took. With a small groan, I was on my feet. My friend led me out of the helicopter and to the door of the SHIELD bunker. The ground was a solid shade of dull brown, and it was difficult to see the horizon, for it was a warm grey colour. Natasha, out of the corner of my eye, was standing with Ahlem, who opened a door. She gave me a look that implied that I should hurry inside.

Once all of us were secure in the bunker, the heavy, steel door closed with a loud thud behind us. Something whistled from the corners of the hall we stood in, and after about ten seconds, a loud beep echoed throughout the chamber, and Natasha removed her respirator, with Ahlem and Bucky following. I removed my surgical mask, breathing in the air. It felt clean, unlike the air outside, which would burn my throat if I breathed in too deeply.

Another door slammed open in front of us, and a huge bunker stood on the other side, teeming with life. It was very difficult to differentiate people from each other, as dull colours like black, grey, and brown seemed to be common in the bunker. Many people wore scarves over the shoulders and neck, like Bucky, and cloaks seemed to be popular as well.

Bright lights hung from the top of the bunker, shining down on all of the weapons and people with a dull intensity.

"Hey," Bucky said quietly, touching his hand to mine, "Are you alright? You seem pale."

"Y-yeah. Sorry," I said with a quick nod, beginning to follow Natasha and Ahlem.

As I stepped into chamber, it seemed to grow around me. The sheer size of it made me feel small, insignificant.

I noticed Natasha was taking us to a far quarter of the bunker, to a large, glass screen. Ahlem was already talking to the man working behind it. He had several pencils tucked behind his ear, and he wore a grimy, white tank top. He had a grey hoodie wrapped around his waist, and a tool belt on top of that. His thin fingers worked furiously on the glass screen, tapping at a keyboard then looking up at the graphs and carts with a flame in his large, brown eyes.

"Stark?" I exclaimed. He looked humbled, having a slight stubble where his face should be clean, oil shining out on his signature beard. 

"Rogers, long time no see," He said without looking up at me. Natasha looked over his shoulder at the ever-changing screens.

"Are you sure your algorithm is correct?" Natasha asked with a concerned tone. Tony turned around with a raised eyebrow.

"Back off man, I'm a scientist," he said before going back to work.

"Stark, our whole world is at stake. Please make sure your algorithm is correct. We don't want another Pepper incident," Ahlem said with a low voice. Tony's hands stopped fiddling with his keyboard and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. The genius looked up at me.

"It's a whole new world, isn't it Cap? You've been touched by the Angel, the one person who really knows what's going on. You're scared, aren't you? It's okay, Capsicle. For once, I won't be unnecessarily fed up with you...y-you should go," He said with one breath. He seemed humiliated. Changed. What was the Pepper incident, anyway? I had so many questions. Bucky touched my hand with his again, and we were off.

"What this place? What's the Pepper incident? Please, Buck, tell me," I asked, no, pleaded my friend. He looked at me with sad, blue-green eyes.

"All in good time Steve, all in good time..."


End file.
